RE: 陳綺貞集體式的"孤芳自賞"

Well.. surprisingly... even before I penned my thoughts about APOSII SG concert, there's already a big "hoohaa" going on in the Singapore online community.  Apparantly, our national chinese newspaper 聯合早報 published a very subjective & personal review about the concert.  The article itself did not address much to the music quality and presentation of the concert by Cheer and her team. But rather, this whole article criticized and condemned Cheer & her 3500 audience as the title - 陈绮贞演唱会 集体式的“孤芳自赏”..  

Many of my friends(including not Cheer supporters) were really mad after reading this article and one of them even wanted to tear the newspaper into pieces!!!  This article already cause a big uproar @ facebook/online and we have many fans/normal audience and even media journalist from online music entertainment website(Freshmusic) condemning the unprofessional behaviour by this Mr Raven Wang from 聯合早報.  At first I thought i should just lauged it off and ignore the report because I knew deep inside my heart that this reporter Mr Wang could well be the only person that is suitable for his own title "孤芳自賞".  but nevertheless... I decided to feedback to 聯合早報 about how I felt and I do not expect them to reply or publish my feedback.. but really is 不吐不快!! I was really mad as I felt so humiliated and insulted.  First time in my life I attended a concert that I enjoyed wholeheartedly only to be "condemned" and "insulted" like an idiot. 

The original unedited version of the review is even more crude and you can read it here
http://www.nanyangpost.com/forum/showthread.php?p=238399

The feedback wrote by one of the journalist from Freshmusic
http://www.facebook.com/notes/freshmusic-yin-le-za-zhi/du-chen-qi-zhen-yan-chang-hui-ji-ti-shi-gu-fang-zi-shang-you-gan-bu-yao-rang-ge-/165736803459307

A block entry by someone  - I like the way he describe how he felt "为什么我们辛辛苦苦赚钱，很高兴地买了自己喜欢的歌手的演唱会门票，再很兴奋地赶赴演唱会盛宴，最后却被骂为“集体式的孤芳自赏”，并且多次在文中被抨 击？笔者诠释为赶赴现场的3500位观众都被该记者隐喻为一群孤单而孤芳自赏的同类，赶赴了一场让该记者不屑一顾可是却因为工作无法不出席的九流演唱会， 而我们还如此莫名其妙的兴奋实在是幼稚且没有素质的。"

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/shawwong/2529874



Here's my feedback to 聯合早報, could be slightly subjective which I apologize but I really cannot control!!

RE: 陈绮贞演唱会 集体式“孤芳自赏”
http://www.zaobao.com.sg/fk/fk101115_012.shtml

我一直以來都覺得新加坡的媒體修養以及素質是非常良好的.. 但是在看了以上的新聞 報導後感到非常震驚以及有一種被侮辱的感覺!  身為當天在場的觀眾以及陳綺貞的支持者.. 我必須把對當晚的感受說出來…  也許以綺貞的支持者角度來說, 我的發言或許會傾向主觀.. 但是當晚的情況完全不是貴報的記者在報導中用所謂的”集體式孤芳自賞”來描述的. 稍微對陳綺貞的音樂有認識的都會知道綺貞在現場表演一貫的風格以及感染力.. 投入,瘋狂以及忘我的境界是她的特質…當天會買票去欣賞的絕大多數是非 常了解以及欣賞綺貞音樂的知音.. 以一個獨立創作歌手來說, 能夠在沒有太多媒體宣傳的情況下以及還是在沒有專輯宣傳期辦演唱會是需要很多勇氣以及實力的.. 我覺得貴報的報導完全抹殺了歌手以及其團隊在音樂以及演唱會上所付出的努力以及心血…

[夏季練習曲]的呈現方式本來就是分為三個階段來呈現的 – 初夏的神秘, 盛夏的熱情以及夏末的微微感傷.. 這些應該不難在網路上找到吧? 難道媒體到場前沒有先做功課嗎?  整場演唱會從開場的安靜忘我投入, 中場的瘋狂失控以及完場非常溫馨的大合唱安可.. 都非常符合演唱會的概念啊!  而且在場的觀眾也非常的投入(不然貴報記者怎麼可能”偷拍”到情侶親熱的照片)..  我相信綺貞的支持者都已經非常習慣她”閉目自我投入”以及”面無表情”的演唱方式…  這也是她一貫的風格啊.. 我倒是覺得是貴報記者本身對歌手沒有一定的了解才會說她是”心情不佳, 在趕場”… 我相信在場的觀眾也能感受到她的投入.. 到了中場的瘋狂失控這本來就是人之長情… 一直以來我都覺得在新加坡看演唱會是非常的壓抑的… 有稍微動感搖滾的歌曲想投入其中大多時後都會被保安人員制止… 往往會形成”動感搖滾”表演的”冷場”… 綺貞的魅力真的是無法忽視..因為她非常成功的感染了在場所有的觀眾一起完全投入與她一同搖滾以及瘋狂… 至於歌迷沖向舞台照相, 這完全也是因為大家都非常投入啊.. 而且場館也沒有禁止大家帶相機進入會場.. 難道要大家帶相機但是都放在包包里嗎? 我相信綺貞的支持者在年齡以及思想上都有一定的成熟性, 大家雖然很瘋狂以及投入但是不至於會危害到他人的安危和影響到其他人觀賞演唱會的情緒…. 照我看來, 大家都很HIGH啊! 不一定要看到舞台上歌手近距離的表演才可以享受啊.. 能投入參與以及感受整個演唱會的氣氛以及熱情才是最重要的.. 場館的設計本來就是平地式的… 這跟歌手以及歌迷在互動上是不應該掛勾的…  來看演唱會的都是支持歌手的樂迷 – 理所當然就會變成”歌迷會”啊!  而到了演唱會的尾端, 綺貞也非常體恤後方買了便宜票價的觀眾而特地在附近架了一台鋼琴演唱了兩首歌曲.. 這也是我們坐在前方沒有的待遇啊!! 難道前方買了最貴票價的觀眾要埋怨綺貞嗎? 大家都沒有啊.. 大家都非常投入在綺貞的歌聲當中… 看演唱會本來就是”一分錢一分貨” – 你想近距離欣賞就必須提早買最貴的票價. . 綺貞以及其團隊能夠如此貼心為後方的觀眾設想已經是非常難能可貴了…  記者不應該把這份心意扭曲成”逛巴剎”!!! 這真的非常傷人…. 到了安可部分, 綺貞也表明會繼續唱下去..若有人不想趕不上地鐵而浪費冤枉錢搭德士, 大可走人啊.. 大家都是願打願挨的留下來了… 我想也許只有少許的人會覺得委屈吧???

能夠在沒有特別來賓或很多華麗的舞台支援下一個人唱足三個小時, 這對體力以及能力上也算是相當大的考驗…  記者完全忽視了歌手以及其團隊在這方面的貢獻…  這也許不是我看過最棒的陳綺貞, 但是絕對是有水準以及非常用心的一次… 聯合早報真的該檢討記者的素質以及修養... 整篇報導簡只是在侮辱綺貞以及所有出席的觀眾.

陳綺貞的知音人 - Denise

A Piece Of Summer II, Hong Kong

Alright, I happened to visit Hong Kong in mid october and got the chance to attend Cheer's APOSII hong kong concert during my stay.  If I did not blog about it I guess it will be kinda wasted right??

 

Very well done first segment.  Piano duet & descending like a "godness" 

I think rearranged versions of Sentimental Kills and 旅行的意義 were the best performed songs

I attended the second session on 16th October(which was a Saturday).  The venue, Starhall@HITEC, Kowloon Bay, was quite a ulu place hahaha...  I met up with my HK-based SG friend and together with my mum, the 3 of us took a cab there.  This time round, my friend managed to get us seats at row 10 but unfortunately they were on the extreme left.  Surprisingly, it turned out to be not to bad as I managed to snap photos that were even better than Taipei's concert - Moral of the story, it is ok if you are seated at the side, but distance to the stage is very important.  Grab rows as close to the stage as possible!!!

 

She is really charming and cool when she strums her guitars.

 

Yet she can also be very artistic and peaceful

 

Or just sweet and simple

 

Or rocker style together with Tiger

I will not elaborate on the concert segments as they were pretty much the same as the Taipei's one.  The only BIG difference was that the Hong Kong Fans were super HIGH and ONz!!  I thought I enjoyed the Hong Kong Concert way much more than the Taipei one.  I would also say that Cheer's performance was better too!!  In Taipei, as it was the first performance, Cheer sounded quite nervous during the first few songs; The audience were super quiet and obedient during the first half of the concert as they did not know what to expect so most of them just enjoyed quietly.  But for Hong Kong, Cheer was already seasoned with APOSII and I guessed alot of people would have know what to expect from watching online youtube clips and photos from the concert.  The best part - There's basically no restriction during the concert and I snapped photos from the 1st min to the 190th min (non-stop but got quality control). 

 

 

Beautiful backdrop projection and lightings

As everyone was happily enjoying and taking photos, I managed to take my time to adjust the exposure and compositions of my shots manually(and happily).  I would say I enjoyed taking photos very much while still being able to enjoy Cheer's performance.  The guys seated at my area were super ONz and basically all the 4 ENCORES were initiated from our side.   Everyone stood up at the PB zone from song #8(the closet song with wings!) onwards and we barely sit down much after that hahahaah.. 

Of course the most happy thing was I got to listen to Cheer's new song "蜉蝣"(mayfly), 小小校歌 & 讓我想一想(unplugged version), which I did not get to do so in Taipei!!!  So even if you thought that the encores were sort of "expected" in one way or another, whatever songs Cheer decides to sing depends greatly on her mood and the audiences' reaction - I would say that Cheer was very HIGH that night.  She talked alot during the Encores and best of all impromptu decided to perform 蜉蝣 and 讓我想一想!!! That's what most sessions did not get (especially 讓我想一想 - so far I think she only sang that in the last taiwan session at Taichung).   I would say it was really a great enjoyment to be able to watch her concert again - Even my mum was mesmerized and so impressed that she wanted to rewatch it in Singapore!!

I will be looking forward to Nov 13th, the Singapore one.  Hopefully it will not disappoint me hahaha...

Songlist for APOSII, HK 16th October 2nd day.

Part 1

小塵埃(with ukulele) 狂戀(Piano duet with George Chen) 嫉妒 慢慢長夜 靜靜生活 sentimental kills(New arrangement) 旅行的意義(demo new arrangement) 太多 躺在你的衣櫃 飄著(Faith Yang’s song) 魚

Part 2

越洋電話 after17 表面的和平 la vie en rose(ukulele solo)

Part 3
一起去巴黎 下午三點(percussion performance) 1234567(with band members) 女明星(downstage)

Part 4
吉他手(guitar heroes II) 最初的起點 讓我想一想
Encore
慢歌1 太聰明 旅行的意義(機車帽version)

Encore 1
小小校歌 告訴我(Premium zone audience area piano solo) 微涼的你

Encore 2
天天想你 蜉蝣(ukulele)

Encore 3
距離 讓我想一想(unplugged guitar version)



In conclusion

Frankly speaking, I still cannot believe that I went all the way to Taipei just to watch a concert. This is so not "me". I am not considered a diehard fan of Cheer Chen and neither have I attend any of her events before. But, I always and still believes that Cheer has been doing music with her sincerity. Although people might say that her personal style is too overwhelming and self-centered(not suitable for majority of the market), but I guess that's what makes her unique and who she is today. Her lyrics can sometimes be very profound and philosophical but definitely not too negative or those that will make you go into depression. I find that her songs are always so refreshing and meaningful - Some of them even inspire and give me the encouragement to live my life better. Therefore, I know that if I don't attend her concert at least once, I will definitely regret forever. On the other hand, nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow, so why not cherish what you have and can do now? That's also one of the main reason that drove me to Taiwan and I have to say Cheer did not disappoint me - Of cos this is very subjective as I have never attend any of her concerts before. But to me. she is exactly the Cheer Chen that I have been listening to.

The concept of APOSII is very simple and purely based on music itself(which I guessed is the extention of APOSI) - No need glamorous or extravagant stage designs. When compared to the 2 concert dvds , I would say APOSII is much well-done. The 2 concert dvds were mainly focused on her new album debuts and I thought it sort of restricted the degree of freedom to do more "daring things". In APOSII, although her voice might not be as "good" when compared to one of the concert dvd(花的姿態), but I saw alot of improvements in terms of visual presentations and new music arrangments(not to mention the genius design of the extended stage to increase interactions with the audiences). There were more freedom and creativity to select combinations of songs to sing and present them in totally new arrangments - That is very important as I don't think most people would want to attend a concert of a singer with the same old pattern within very short time intervals(unless you are really diehard). I would dare suggests that the dynamics of Cheer's music in APOSII is by far the best and most mature among all her previous concerts. Of cos, majority of the credits should go to the music director, Cheer's lifelong music partner cum boyfriend Tiger Chung, for his efforts and creativity. Not to mention the professional display by all the band and orchestra members. I find that APOSII is very refreshing and successful!! Cheer and her team has done it once again!! - This is really not easy for someone that has so many concerts within 10years.

The blog is created as a record for myself as a first-timer experience with Cheer Chen's concert and therefore this is not so much of a review. I hope it can also serve a reference for her future concerts (eg: the upcoming APOSII in Singapore). Thank you!!

A Piece Of Summer II - Segment 4

Encore! Encore! Encore!

After the crazy rock session, we went into the first encore of the night - I was very amazed by her fans especially Mr 爽(小煜). This guy should be Cheer's most diehard fan I guess? I think by now you know who I am referring to right - 爽~~ Her diehard fans were really pro lor, they did many Encore banners and distributed them out to the audiences around the premium zone. Armed with a loudspeaker and the cameraman focusing on him, 小煜 leaded us to the first encore of the night(nevermind that it was sort of "prearranged")!!! Everyone was so high and standing to shout "encore encore encore" continuously. But I was very tired and breathless after 1min hahah.. I think I am really getting old! But the younger fans at level 2 and 3 were power!!! they were even louder than us at the premium zone!!

Our all time favourite "機車帽"!!!

Finally after some time, Cheer and Tiger came out with the song "太聰明".. So sweet!! It was always very nice to see the two of them performed side by side with Tiger playing his Martin for Cheer. Then her whole band came out with the legendary "機車帽"!!! How could Cheer not sing that famous "機車帽" version for "旅行的意義"??? The TV screen then showed Cheer's mum who was in the crowd wearing a "機車帽" - Awow!!! Such a supportive mummy!!! She must be really proud of her daugther!! The focus was then shifted to a fan holding on a red 機車帽. She was really cool - slowly she picked her helmet up and wore it in front of everyone haha!! Then the strings of the legendary song began - Wah everyone was so HIGH!!!! I thought Cheer will not be singing this version since they did a new version during segment 1!!! But I guess the fans won't let her off if she didn't sing the "機車帽" version!!

That's how garang Cheer was - Playing the Piano and singing in the crowd

After this "Gala encore" song, we went into the second round of encore. As usual, 小煜was still very high to lead us on with his loudspeaker haha.. While the encore was on going, there was a commotion on the left side of my area, At first I thought "did someone fainted or what?" I saw alot of people rushing toward my left side where the intersection of the 4 premium blocks was. Then finally I saw it - Wah garang!!! They were moving a piano across to the intersection!!! - "Don't tell me Cheer is going to get down stage like Immortal and perform with the piano in the crowd???" Faintzzz!!!! I really got nothing to say about this!!! But the commotion did not last too long as once again, Cheer came out - this time alone with her hummingbird. She told us that she knew that it was not easy for everyone out there to get the ticket for the concert and she would definitely do her best to satisfy us - Someone from the crowd then shouted "秒殺"!! - So comical but yet so true haha!! She presented us with 張雨生's "天天想你" as the next encore song.. Wow wow wow!! I knew that alot of people are dying to hear her sing "天天想你" - That's my first time listening to Cheer's version and it was really touching!!! (If only 張雨生 did not meet with the fatal car accident that ended his life so early) In the midst of the song, a girl from the upper level shouted "陳綺貞 我愛你"!! My neighbour's friend teased her and say "要不要叫一下?".. She very funny, she smiled and shyly rejected "不要啦! 好害羞唷!" - Are all Taiwanese girls so "Teh Teh"??? And soon one of the most chaotic moment came, Cheer announced that she will be going downstage to perform with that piano!!! I saw that almost everyone was rushing to "chop" an auspicious space near the piano but I was being blocked by my very shy neighbour ahah.. And I guess it would be useless by then to try to squeeze through people. I resigned to the fate of just listening and watching her piano performance via the TV screen. She sang the song "告訴我" while she played the piano - Wah!!! First time lay!! Cheer performed piano solo !!! Really very cool!! The fans that surrounded her were very so fortunate but they were super obedient and quiet, they just kneeled down quietly beside her and enjoyed!!!! It was another round of chaos when she returned to the main stage to perform the last song for this encore "孩子" with her band members. I really love Cheer very much that night - She performed almost all my favourite songs(eg: 孩子)!!! After the song, she leaded her band and mini-orchestra members to thank all the audience for their support before leaving the stage again. I remembered there were 10 members in total excluding Cheer but I din't manage to snap a photo of them as everyone was standing and I was blocked hahaah!!! Kudos to all the band and orchestra members of APOSII - YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

I still prefer the simply Cheer in Jeans and Tshirt with her hummingbird

Finally the last encore - Which I guess was the "real one"(so in total there's only one encore for the first night). We were jumping and screaming for Cheer to come out again. It was already 10.45pm and Cheer did not disappoint us. For one last time she came out with her hummingbird!!! Then she "scolded" something shocking at us - "你們這群神經病!!" (you guys are crazy!!! How much longer do you want me to sing?) Usually you wont expect such a 氣質person to say something like that but the crowd liked it!!! In fact I was very happy to be labeled as "神經病" by Cheer ahaha!! She once again thanked the fans sincerely for the continuous support regardless of what she did for her music and that it will continue to be the strength for her to do her own music!!! Yeah Cheer, I will still continue to support your music!!! She even teased the fans by saying "you guys can do whatever you like now. I dont care!!" and "I will give you all some time to "form" and tidy up your position before I sing"... Hahahaha... That's very mischievous of Cheer!!! Just before she performed "九份的咖啡店" she teased the crowd for one last time "Are you all done?? Can I sing now?"... Muahahaha!! So rude yet so sweet!!!!! I thought she would leave after this song as she kept thanking us but last minute, she changed her mind. She decided to sing one last song "距離" for us before the concert wrapped up - So nice of her! She still have 3 more days to go but yet she was willing to stay put with us as if it was the last day of the concert. But this last song, she made a blunder - She forgot the lyrics at the second part hahahaha!! For the first time, Cheer forgot her own song's lyrics!!! She suddenly "dalalalalalada" and everyone bursted into laughter - I could tell that she was slightly embarassed... But as a "seasoned" performer, she managed to pick up the momentum and resumed the song quickly. As the song came to an end with the last guitar chord played, she stood up and bowed sincerely at us for one last time before leaving the stage. 小煜&gang did not initiate anymore encores which I believed could be due to concerns that Cheer still needs to perform for the next 3 days - sure considerate fans haah!

陳綺貞 ROCKS!!!!

The first two encores were "sort of" preplanned but overall, Cheer and her team did a great job for 3 solid hours!! Not many singers are willing to perform on their own without special guest for that long!!! By the end of the 1st encore, I could hear that Cheer's voice was geting hoarse but she was still willing to do her best to satisfy us!! Although there were no sophisticated and elegant stage designs, I could feel the "sincerity" throughout the whole night.. I believe every fans that attended her concerts before will have the same feeling as me. This concert was really meaningful and worth my efforts to travel all the way to Taiwan.

A Piece Of Summer II - Segment 3

Rocker! (This part I murdered my D90's shutter counts like crazy)

Cheer Chen with her customized Gibson SG-3

Before we could barely recover from our excitement and "shock", the screen on both sides displayed a camera logo with the wording "就是現在"(This is the moment). The music of the legendary "把你的相機拿出來" song 1234567 started and all the audience went into a frenzy state... In the immortal concert dvd, Cheer went downstage to the premium zone while she performed 1234567. She used her own cam while she stood on small raised platforms to take photos and let the fans took photos of her. This time round, they were even more creative, they linked the TV screen to the LIVE VIEW SCREEN of a NIKON DSLR haha - I knew because the display setting was exactly the same as my D90!! As Cheer strolled and sang along the roundabout stage, the photographer followed her and took instant shots of her with the fans at level 2. Wah!! I envy those at level 2. Usually during concerts, if you bought the cheaper catergory tix, you will not be able to see the performing artist up-close not to even mention shaking hands with them... But for Cheer... it is the other way round..... During this song, the audience(cheaper cat) at level 2 "tan dio".... they got to shake hands, sing, take photo together and interact with cheer... she is really very very sweet..

Sweet lah!! Sing for me! High Five with me!! Shake hands with me!

Video says it all!! this fan at level 3 power la!!! That's how madness could go at the taipei concert

I hardly can find any "un-glamness" in Cheer.

Following 1234567, Cheer went down to our premium zone from my side(wow nearly causing a stampede right in front of me!) with her 女明星!!! - Now you know why I mentioned that my seats at the last few rows of the premium zone turned out to be a blessing! She did a transform of clothes right in front of the audiences and put on an MJ glove on her left hand hahaha! Really ROCKER lor!! Ahhhh!! this session was the first climax of the concert!!! The crowd went crazy immediately as the ushers struggled very hard to create a passageway for Cheer to sing her way back to the main stage. I bet in Singapore they won't even allow her to go through the whole premium zone like that huh??? Even if yes, I guess all the fans would be blocked off and pushed away by the very fierce and rude SG ushers. Com'on lor, concert lay!! Let us relax and enjoy mah!!! So tight up for what? Might as well don't go like that right? What's the point of letting the artist come down to the first row and shake hands with only a few to "show off" that there's interaction with the audiences? Cheer really very garang and power lah!! Quoting from what my colleague said "wah your Cheer Chen treats the whole theatre as her stage ah?? - Cool Siah!! I was very impressed with the Taiwanese fans, they are really cultured!! During the segment 1 whereby photography was not allowed, they were really obedient and they did not create unnecessary noise pollution while Cheer was performing. And when it was time to HIGH, they gave their very best but yet in a controlled manner - they never screamed like crazy, grabbed or pushed or whatever to endanger the safety of Cheer.

Rocker!!

Damm!! Wasted!!!

Tiger with his Gibson Les Paul and Cheer with her Gibson Hummingbird

Cheer managed to get back to the main stage on time and without wasting time, her team went on to the "ROCK" session of the concert. They started off with the heavy rock version 吉他手and everyone stood up in response to the song. Before you wonder will there be a "Guitar Heroes Ver II", the music transformed at the interval of the song to your familiar arcade tune!! Oh Yeah!! Guitar Heroes II is on!!! This time round they did a bassist versus basssist and electric guitarist versus electric guitarist version. Both 弈汶&奇哥 are well known bassists in Taiwan. Super cool lor!! But usually 奇哥 will be the 2nd guitarist in Cheer's Concert. Of cos, the gala duel was between Cheer and Tiger. Both of them just walked from the main stage to the "surround stage" right in front of me to jammed their electric guitars!! Wah mann!! That's the coolest thing in the whole concert!! Cheer and Tiger are known to be super low profile couple in Taiwan but yet they did not choose to avoid each other during performance!! There was one part where the both of them jammed the guitars back to back!! Wah super HIGH lor!!!! The Gibson SG-3 versus Les Paul - Power lah!!!! I was super high during this segment!! Took photos like there's no tomorrow like that haha! After the jamming, Cheer went on to introduce the other band members and proceed on to 最初的起點 and 讓我想一想. Both songs are very cheerful with strong catchy tunes. And before she went on to 讓我想一想, she told us to practise stamping our feet on the grounds of NTU sports complex... Wahh!! the effect was scary lor - This song is the "jumping" song!! Without hesitation, everyone jumped like crazy up and down during this song and were all super HIGH - I think this was the highest climax of the whole concert!! But I saw from the tw news the next day that Cheer and her team immediately got reprimanded and warned for initiating such "jumping" acts at NTU. Subsequently, no more jumpings for days 2-4 hahaha!! This crazy and rock segment was wrapped up with 慢歌1 (which is the slow version of 還是會寂寞 - Ya!! must cool down). I think is 慢歌1 rather than 還是會寂寞 because it ended up as a 大合唱in very soft music. Pardon me if I am wrong about this song. Anyhow this segment was the most enjoyable part of the concert and I enjoyed myself very much!!! CHEER ROCKS!!!!

A Piece Of Summer II - Segment 2

Your all-time favorite 氣質才女!!

The concept in this segment was designed to be simple, relax and cosy

During the interval between segment 1 to 2, they played a video of Cheer and her team discussing about the concert and casual things. I couldn't really figure out the complete conversation but it seems that they were having fun and did some leisure sports to relax while working hard for the concert preparations. They even went on cycling trips and raced against each other!! Of course there's a part where Cheer and George also competed in the swimming pool haha!! George even mentioned in the video "wow... Our band really leads a healthy lifestyle!"... The stage came back to life with a projection of "Cheer's room" and there were cosy sofas and furnitures which made the stage looked really like her room! haha.. Armed only with her #1 axe, the Gibson Hummingbird(finally I saw it first time in my life!), she did a pure guitar version of 越洋電話 and after17(that's their original studio versions). As compared to the "surprises" and excitement of new things at the previous segment, the starting of segment 2 made you relax and close your eyes to sit back and enjoy the songs(I guess that's a good way to prep you for the next round of action-packed and energy burning section). Ended up I didn't take a single photo - Too relax..

After the 2 simple songs, Cheer displayed a short "act" (ya!! act!) reciting poems in her "room" while Tiger Chung came in as the background guitarist. Tiger Chung, the man behind Cheer since 吉他手. I got nothing to say about the chemistry between the two of them. As tiger played the background guitar while Cheer "acted", I really felt very relax and fortunate to be in the concert. Can only use the word "幸福" to describe. When she sang 表面的和平, it was so touching!!! Sad yet beautifully translated. I think I remembered one of the phrase that she recited or I saw on the projection(not sure whether was in this segment) but the words said it all - [這是我生命中最大限度能夠接近的美好].. She did a solo of the signature song La Vie En Rose by French singer Édith Piaf with her newly aquired ukulele. It was really interesting to see her perform a classic music piece with a new instrument. However, I thought the ukulele solo performance could be slightly longer. One song not enough la!! Only less than 3mins!!!

卷毛把夏天給了杰倫 但是我們還是有小白!

After the short ukulele solo, the percussion team came in for a dual drummer PK performance. Talking about the drummer, Cheer's #1 drumman 卷毛(Mr Q) did not participate in APOSII concert due to schedule clashes with Jay Chou's concert(Urghh!! Can Jay don't hold so much concerts!!! Give Mr Q back to Cheer!!). 卷毛 is one of the best drummer in taiwan and he plays a very important part in Cheer's music(the drums in most studio albums and concerts were by him). Nevertheless, to show their sincerity, the team got another 2 very talented drummers(yes double) for APOSII - 小白&弘一". Both of them were equally impressive and they know their stuff really well!! It was very entertaining to see the both of them PK with different types of percussion during the interval. They did a percussion and accordion session with Cheer participating in stroking a "frog-like" percussion instrument know as "Guiro" for 一起去巴黎(first time complete song other than the short one I saw in compliation vcd) and 下午三點. If you are familiar with 下午三點, the ending of the song comes with a long instrumental interval and guess what? Our dear Cheer kicked off the first "peak" of the concert by riding a bicycle around the audience with George Chen!!! They even "High FIVE" when they intersect each other!! Wow!!! I have to say I was caught off guard totally !! My concert neighbor even exclaimed “哇!! 好有氣質唷!”... The production team was damm creative to design the extended roundabout stage in such a way that it was sandwiched between the premium block zone and level 2. In this way, both the expensive and cheaper categories can enjoy up close performance of Cheer and her band members. Seems that they didn’t really save on the production cost but on the other hand, they gave the best they could to the audiences.

A Piece Of Summer II - Segment 1

Photo from some taiwanese newspage. copyright controlled.

Mysterious Angel

Paiseh... As I did not attend any of her concerts before. So whatever I write now is based on my first-timer feeling (after comparing with her 2 concert dvds). So if I very "sua-gu" say something exaggerating please forgive me.. Because this is the first ever Cheer Chen concert(overseas somemore) I attended!!!

Video says it all. copyright by etv.

I would say the first segment presented alot of new arrangements of existing songs that surpass their original versions. If I am not wrong, the man behind the new music arrangement is her boyfriend Tiger Chung. I thought this segment was very well done and they really impressed me with their creativity in visuals and music. The concert started at 20:00 sharp... When the white cloth of the stage was drawn, there was still a translucent layer in front. Soon the sound and visual effects came in, it was of those very mysterious feel. The image projected behind was of green misty visual that would made you wonder if you are drifting deep into a forest. Then the piano began to play and images of fireflies(looked like to me) and a cobweb slowly weaving overtook the greenish background. Soon we could hear Cheer's voice but we could not find her any where!! Suddenly, a spotlight was shone right at the center and a white figure appeared in mid-air. Our dearest 女神(I hate to use this term but she really looked like one in this song) kicked off the concert in a Bohemian Style white gown and her newly aquired ukulele with the song 小塵埃... I was totally 傻眼 and my jaws almost dropped hahaha...

They rearranged the music of 小塵埃 into a brand new style. My English description is not very powerful but I thought it makes the song even more 小塵埃 than before(so lame hahaha)!!!! With additional yet simple instruments like piano, strings. woodwinds and percussion, this song sounds so different and with a bit of mysterious feel(not to mention the continuous cricket chirping sound implemented into the song). We could not really see Cheer clearly and almost everyone was staring at the big tv screens on both sides of the stage attentively and very QUIETLY(really is 鴉雀無聲). Cheer also worn a chain across her face which made her looked like a "spider spirit" to me. Opps dont beat me up, that was my first impression hahaaha. But the newspapers said that she looked like a princess though...

The second surprise came as a "forest" piano duet of 狂戀 with the ever talented musician/keyboardist George Chen(陳建琪). During this segment, I didn't dare to openly snap photos as my gears were really too "張揚'. As I mentioned before the crowd was super QUIET until you could hear the shutter click sound so clearly. So I inserted the media photo of the duet. I love the way they presented 狂戀.. Really brought out the feeling of the music arrangement by 李雨寰... Subsequently, Cheer sang 3 of her slower ballads(嫉妒 慢慢長夜 靜靜生活). Accompanied by Georges superb piano performance and simple strings/woodwind. 嫉妒&慢慢長夜 sounded peaceful yet slightly sad and mesmerizing under Cheer's crisp clear vocal - My all time favorite songs haha! I was quite happy that they included 靜靜生活 this time, I find this song very cool!!

Handshake... Wasted..

After a series of slow ballads, Cheer geared herself up with her Gibson J45 for our all time favourite "Sentimental Kills". If I am not wrong, I don't think I saw her using the Gibson J45 during concerts. Unless it is solely for "Sentimental Kills" which is always "cut" ouf from the concert dvds due to that "FXXK You" part. They rearranged the song to something even more funky but not as heavy mental as the original version. I like the way Cheer sang this song - damm attitude!! But this version does not have "that" phrase - I was slightly disappointed because I was looking forward to hear Cheer saying it!!! One of my taiwanese friend told me when Cheer sang it during 花的姿態 concert in 2005, they even included a surround sound effect 3X hahaha! Well too bad.... Then the projection became something totally different - videos of travelling and an unfamiliar music began.. I was quite puzzled as I could not guess what was the next song, but when Cheer sang the first sentence I was shocked(I think alot of people also quite shocked) - The song turned out to be the "gala encore" song 旅行的意義!!! Wow.. the new arrangement is awefully awesome!!! It is based on the DEMO version(which I preferred)and the whole song is so different from the Ochestra/Piano version. Totally brand new feel. She sang it in such a sweet manner that melted everybody's heart on the spot. Kudos to Tiger Chung for the great work!! She continued the concert with 太多(George Chen - yet again the man of this song!) and the visual effects that continued on to 躺在你的衣櫃 were damm cool - wings extended behind Cheer and taking off!! Wow!! If you are seated right at the center, I believe it will be even overwhelming.. As the drums leaded the start of the closet song, Cheer appeared with "wings"(like a fallen angel) with her Fender Jaguar(the axe for this song). I really like to see guitarist jamming their electric guitars especially a female guitarist ahaha. Super cool lor!! She jammed her Jaguar and sang the song with such attitude until I dared not stare at her eyes straight - Very Fierce(see photos - must take!! If not I will 對不起my D90 hahah).

The song that followed right behind should be a debut song - 飄著. It was written by Cheer to Faith Yang during the early 2000s. Luckily I got Faith's Cd, if not I would have thought it was a brand new song by Cheer!! If you ask me which version I preferred? I would say that both versions got their own "style". Faith's version is slightly "relax" and slow while Tiger remake it to a slightly heavier "soft rock" version. It was also a total different feel to listen to Cheer reprising it - NICE! The segment wrapped up with 魚 - which I thought was quite a nice idea. They even have some small "fireworks" and "snowflake" effects during the song!!